Arete Wealth Advisors LLC Sells 12,177 Shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC)

Arete Wealth Advisors LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 65.1% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,521 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after selling 12,177 shares during the quarter. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $367,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Mattson Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in Wells Fargo & Company in the 2nd quarter valued at $25,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new position in Wells Fargo & Company in the 2nd quarter valued at $26,000. Truvestments Capital LLC acquired a new position in Wells Fargo & Company in the 3rd quarter valued at $29,000. MidAtlantic Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in Wells Fargo & Company in the 3rd quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, FSA Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Wells Fargo & Company in the 3rd quarter valued at $34,000. Institutional investors own 75.90% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Wells Fargo & Company news, EVP Ather Williams III sold 60,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.70, for a total value of $3,822,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 163,610 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,421,957. The trade was a 26.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Beurden Saul Van sold 35,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.99, for a total transaction of $2,169,650.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 126,687 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,853,327.13. This represents a 21.65 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on WFC. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $72.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Wells Fargo & Company from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $65.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $61.00 price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Phillip Securities upgraded shares of Wells Fargo & Company from a “neutral” rating to an “accumulate” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $60.83 to $65.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Wells Fargo & Company from $67.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $67.49.

Wells Fargo & Company Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of WFC stock opened at $70.47 on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company has a 12-month low of $46.12 and a 12-month high of $78.13. The company has a market capitalization of $234.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.65, a P/E/G ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.16. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $68.96 and a 200 day moving average price of $61.18. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 11th. The financial services provider reported $1.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.14. Wells Fargo & Company had a net margin of 14.43% and a return on equity of 12.25%. The firm had revenue of $20.37 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.40 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.39 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wells Fargo & Company Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, December 1st. Investors of record on Friday, November 8th were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. Wells Fargo & Company’s dividend payout ratio is currently 33.26%.

Wells Fargo & Company Company Profile

Wells Fargo & Company, a financial services company, provides diversified banking, investment, mortgage, and consumer and commercial finance products and services in the United States and internationally. The company operates through four segments: Consumer Banking and Lending; Commercial Banking; Corporate and Investment Banking; and Wealth and Investment Management.